That Moment
by OnlyMondler
Summary: AU. The moment you realize that you love someone is either beautiful or dramatic. Or it could be a mixture of the two. Set after 5x3


He saw her sitting there. Alone. A frown planted firmly on her face. He and she had agreed that, yes, in fact they were just goofing around, and she agreed to go out with that nurse man, Dan. But somehow she ended up alone on a park bench in the middle of Central Park.

For some reason he had decided to walk home from work that day. He though that might give him time to clear his mind about Monica and his almost relationship. But the more he thought about it he realized that if you _love_ someone then let it go.

But once he spotted her he couldn't just leave her. So he slowly walked over to the park bench and sat down next to her, placing his briefcase next to him. She let out a sigh and turned to look at him. But she never said anything.

So he decided to break it. "How was your date with Dan?"

She shrugged. "It didn't work out." She replied her voice full of disappointment. To him the tone in her voice was like a stab to the gut.

"What happened?" He asked trying to hide his pain.

"I was too busy thinking about you to even pay attention to him." She replied.

"Sorry." He said softly. The silence settled in but neither one of them seemed to want to break it.

"Why are you sitting here with me?" Monica asked after a few minutes.

"I wasn't just going to just leave you alone in the middle of Central Park." He replied as if it was such an obvious answer. She gave him a small smile.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Welcome." He said.

"Why can't we get it right?" She asked him, tears lining her eyes.

"What?" He asked confused.

"Relationships. Why do all of our relationships crash and burn?" She asked him a stray tear running down her face.

"That's not true-"He started.

"Yes it is. Look at ours that crashed and burned." She said gesturing between the two of them.

"We did not crash and burn, Mon." He said, pain evident in his voice.

"Yes we did," She insisted. "We had a relationship but then we ruined it." The silence once again came upon them.

"You have no idea what you did to me when I saw you leave tonight." He said suddenly. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her eyes burning through him. "In that moment I knew that I lost my chance. I knew that you had already moved on." He confessed.

"I think if it was meant to be we wouldn't have broken up." She said quietly.

"Ya," He chocked out. "Ya." He said again.

"I'll always be there for you, Chandler. Always." She said placing a hand on his shoulder. He gave her smile before she stood up and placed one last soft kiss on his lips and walked away. He watched her walk away and disappearing into the crowd of New York. That's when he knew, she wasn't his anymore. He had his chance and he blew it.

She couldn't believe it. She just walked away from the man of her dreams. Her best friend. His kiss still lingered on her lips. She was single once again. And most likely just ruined her friendship Chandler.

She entered her apartment to find Rachel sitting on the couch reading a magazine. "Hey Mon how was your date?" She asked once she realized she had come home.

"Terrible." She replied her demeanor downcast.

"Mon?" Rachel asked noticing her friend's distress. "Mon, please talk to me." Rachel pleaded.

Monica gave in and walked over to the couch, where she laid down resting her head on Rachel's lap.

"My date was terrible because I'm in love with Chandler." Monica confessed tears forming in her eyes.

"What?" Rachel asked shocked

"When you hooked Dan and me up, Chandler and I were together." Monica closed her eyes tight to keep her tears at bay.

"Mon why didn't you tell me?" Rachel asked.

"Because I was going to tell Chandler I wasn't going to go out with him. But apparently he already found out and said that we were just goofing around. I never meant for him to get hurt." Monica began to sob. Rachel took Monica in her arms and rocked her back and forth as if caring for a crying child. "But… But I just talked to him in the park and told him wasn't meant to be." Monica said through her sobs.

"Oh, Mon." Rachel said softly.

"I don't want to just 'goof around.'" Monica sobbed

Rachel felt terrible. She knew that if she didn't hook Monica up with Dan then she wouldn't be here crying over Chandler. The one who she was in love with. "I'm so sorry, Mon."

"I need just need to be alone right now." Monica said wiping away her tears. Rachel just nodded and watched as Monica dispersed into her bedroom.

Rachel's heart broke as she heard the muffled sobs coming from Monica's bedroom. She had to fix this. She burst into action when she heard the door open and slam close from apartment 19. She knew that, that had to be Chandler because Joey left hours ago for a date. Knowing she couldn't go on listening to Monica's pain, she bust into action.

Rachel ran out of her apartment and into Chandler's. She was not prepared for what she saw when she walked in. Chandler was pacing his apartment and… crying. They were both hurting. He didn't even notice that she was standing there watching him pace back and forth.

"Chandler!" Rachel finally yelled at him.

"Oh, hi Rach." Chandler said trying to cover up the fact that he was crying.

"Chandler, honey, I know about you and Monica. But right now Monica is over in her bedroom sobbing over you. She loves you and I know that you love her too." Rachel lectured.

"She said that she loves me?" Chandler asked.

"Yes!" Rachel yelled

Chandler couldn't even believe the kind of pain he caused her. Just like in the park, he couldn't let her be alone.

"I need to talk to her." Chandler said quietly before rushing out the door and into Monica's apartment. Chandler could hear Monica's cries from the kitchen. How much pain had he actually caused her?

Chandler cautiously approached Monica's bedroom. He took a deep breath placing his hand on the knob and opening the door quietly. He walked in and there she was. She was lying on her stomach and her face was looking towards that wall opposite of the door. The lights were off but he could still tell that she never changed.

He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge. He softly rubbed her back and she turned to face him. He looked down into her eyes which were stained red from crying. "Baby," he whispered.

"Chandler I can't do it. I can't get over you." Monica chocked out.

"I know I can't either." He replied. He pulled her closer to him so that she rested on his lap. Monica wrapped her arms around his neck and he bent down to capture her lips with his.

"I am still on London time, I don't ever want to be off London time." Monica said after they broke the kiss.

"I love you." He said.

She looked up at him fresh tears of happiness lining her eyes. "I love you too."

He claimed her lips with another kiss and he could taste her tears as they deepened the kiss. "Don't ever make me get over you." He heard her whisper against his lips.

"I won't because I am right here." He assured her.

He made love to her that night as if they hadn't in a million years. The continuous 'I love you's' and 'I will never leave you' were whispered in the process. They were in this together.

The happiest moment of their life was when they realized they loved each other.


End file.
